In life, there are a lot of reasons to get discouraged. None of us are living up to our full potential, very few people are getting what they want out of life, and there are setbacks and letdowns every step of the way. When you add up everything about life that could make a person miserable, you're going to end up with a depressingly long list. And yet, the purpose of life is happiness. How can we find happiness, or at least peace and contentment, despite all the reasons to get discouraged?
One way is to hold on to hope through the Atonement. Through the miracle of the Atonement, we have been promised that all that is unfair about life will be made right in the end. All of the needless suffering will cease and be compensated for. Sins will be forgiven and the anguish of sin will be wiped away. Ultimately, even though life is rough, everything is going to be okay.
So, that's going to be all well and good, eventually, but how do we counter discouragement now? One way to do that is to attract the presence of the spirit. In addition to helping us maintain the faith that everything is going to work out, the Holy Ghost can lift our spirits and draw our hearts closer to God. Basically, having the spirit with us to help us be happy, despite anything and everything else in life that tries to make us unhappy.
God doesn't want us to get discouraged; Satan does. God wants us to push forward with faith and hope in a brighter future; a future in which bad things don't happen to good people, a future in which we make fewer mistakes, a future in which everyone who ever had any physical or mental disability will be just as quick and sharp and strong and able as everybody else. I'm looking forward to that future, and I'm looking forward with faith.
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